Two men charged with hacking into 120,000 Apple iPads using AT&T network

John O'Boyle/The Star-Ledger United States Attorney Paul Fishman announces charges today against two men for allegedly hacking AT&T's servers. Looking on is Michael Ward, special agent in charge of the FBI's Newark field office.

NEWARK — U.S. prosecutors accused two men of hacking AT&T Inc.’s computer servers to steal e-mail addresses and personal data of about 120,000 Apple Inc. iPad users, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney in New Jersey said.

Daniel Spitler, 26, of San Francisco and Andrew Auernheimer, 25, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, were charged by U.S. authorities, said Rebekah Carmichael, the spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. The security breaches occurred last June, she said. Fishman will hold a news conference later today to discuss the case.

AT&T apologized on June 14 to iPad 3G tablet computer users whose e-mail addresses were exposed during a security breach disclosed in the preceding week.

An AT&T spokesman, Mark Siegel, directed queries to the U.S. attorney’s office. Natalie Harrison, an Apple spokeswoman, wasn’t immediately available to comment before the start of regular business hours.

Fishman is scheduled to hold a press conference in Newark this afternoon.